Barman killer had been released early

One of two men jailed for life for the murder of a barman in an attack motivated by "homophobic thuggery" had been released from prison early, police said today.

Scott Walker and Thomas Pickford punched, kicked and stamped on Jody Dobrowski "as if trying to kill an animal" while walking back to a hostel for released offenders.

Unemployed Pickford, 25, and 33-year-old decorator Walker, both of no fixed address, were told by an Old Bailey judge they would serve a minimum of 28 years after admitting to killing Mr Dobrowski on Clapham Common, in south London, last October.

It is understood to be the first time that a judge has been able to use an anti-gay motive as an aggravating feature to help decide the sentence.

The court heard that, in January last year, Walker had been jailed for 15 months for assaulting his mother, making threats to kill and criminal damage. Scotland Yard confirmed Walker had been released early from prison last June, and had been on licence until the day before he killed Mr Dobrowski.

Mr Dobrowski, 24, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, suffered dozens of wounds when he was attacked as he crossed a gay cruising area on the common.

The Common Serjeant of London, Judge Brian Barker, said it was likely that Walker and Pickford would serve longer than the 28 years he had fixed as a minimum before they could be considered for parole.

He said the pair had only one intention when they went to the wooded area on Clapham Common on October 14 last year - "homophobic thuggery".

"It was Jody's tragic misfortune to cross your path," he said. "You subjected him to mindless abuse and showed him no mercy. In those few seconds, you took from him the most precious possessions - his life and future."

Walker and Pickford had been returning to a charity-run hostel for released offenders after a night of drinking in Lavender Hill and decided to cross the common.

The pair encountered Mr Dobrowski and, following a brief exchange of words, Pickford threw punches at him. Walker joined in the assault, and Mr Dobrowski's head, neck and body were punched, kicked and stamped on.

Witnesses saw and heard the sustained assault, and one who tried to intervene was warned off by Walker and Pickford.

One of the attackers said: "We don't like poofters here, and that's why we can kill him if we want." The witness, who was threatened with similar treatment, called the police.

Officers arrived in the area and were guided to the scene. They described Mr Dobrowski's face as "a bloody, swollen pulp".

Nicholas Hilliard, prosecuting, said the "gentle, loveable and well-liked" barman's family had only one question of the two men - why did they take his life? "The answer is because he was gay," he said.

Both Walker and Pickford had been involved in an assault on another man in the area two weeks earlier.

Mr Dobrowski, an assistant bar manager at Bar Risa Jongleurs, in Camden, north London, was alive when police discovered him. He died in hospital from severe head, neck and facial injuries.

In court today, the judge told the attackers: "I am quite satisfied that aggression was uppermost in your minds.

"It was a premeditated attack on a gay man. As it continued and increased in ferocity, there was an intention to kill. He suffered considerably before his death." The killers had damaged the lives of those who loved Mr Dobrowski, said the judge.

Outside the court, the victim's mother, Sheri, described his death as "an outrage".

"It was a political act. It was an act of terrorism," she said. "Jody was not the first man to be killed, or terrorised, or beaten or humiliated for being homosexual, or for being perceived to be homosexual.

"Tragically, he will not be the last man to suffer the consequences of homophobia which is endemic in this society. This is unacceptable. We cannot accept this. No intelligent, healthy or reasonable society could.

"We would like to pay tribute to Jody Dobrowski for his strength in the face of cowardice. For struggling to become who he was - an intelligent, funny, hardworking and beautiful man, whose life was brutally and mercilessly punched and kicked from him."

Jaswant Narwal, the district crown prosecutor at the Old Bailey trials unit, said afterwards: "We believe this is the first instance where the judge has been able to use motivation based on sexual orientation as an aggravating feature when sentencing for murder."

Stonewall, the gay equality organisation, welcomed the sentence.

"These sentences properly reflect that this was an appalling crime," said its chief executive, Ben Summerskill. "It's absolutely right that murder motivated by hatred of minority communities should be treated with this sort of severity."

Mr Dobrowski was beaten so badly that a pathologist was unable to say how many times he had been hit. The pathologist identified 33 areas of injury to his head, face, ears and neck.

He suffered a swollen brain, a broken nose and extensive bruising to his neck, spine and groin.

The pathologist concluded that Mr Dobrowski's death was a result of the combination of the brain injury, extensive bleeding, the inhalation of blood and a severe crushing injury to the larynx.

His family could not identify his body because of the severity of his injuries, and identification was made through fingerprint comparison.

After the attack, the killers returned to their hostel where Pickford, who punched his victim so hard that he cracked bones in his hands, told fellow resident Kevin Hanlon: "I've just kicked the crap out of someone. I feel great."

After the attack, Walker was seen to be constantly checking Teletext for news of the murder. A week later, hostel staff contacted police, and he was arrested.

Pickford, who had been asked to leave the hostel a few days earlier after admitting taking heroin, was arrested in Croydon.

In a police interview, he admitted starting the assault on Mr Dobrowski, claiming he did so to impress Walker. He claimed he was too frightened of Walker to stop him continuing the attack. "I just wanted to look like a hard man," he told officers.

Walker refused to comment during interview.

Detective Chief Inspector Nick Scola, who led the investigation into the murder, said: "Jody Dobrowski was beaten to death for no reason other than he was gay.

"I hope today's sentences will send out a strong message that crimes such as these will be dealt with robustly by the courts and will always be vigorously investigated by police.

"We can be grateful that neither Pickford nor Walker will be able to pose a threat to anybody else for a long time."

In January 2005, Walker was jailed for 15 months after he pushed his mother against a door, punched her and bit her on the nose three months earlier. He kicked her while she was on the ground and then put his hands around her neck on a sofa.